Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Monotowns: Production of Mobility

This article looks into the relationship between education, industry and youth mobility in monotown settings. Information collected during a sociological survey in four Ural monotowns—Krasnoturyinsk, Pervouralsk, Revda (Sverdlovsk Oblast) and Dalmatovo (Kurgan Oblast) — was used as empirical data for the study. Education can sometimes work “against” the community, as cultural and symbolic capital that young people acquire at secondary or sometimes vocational schools allows them to migrate from their hometowns to larger cities for education purposes. Therefore, better-educated youths are more likely to leave monotowns. At the same time, availability of educational institutions in a monotown provides its citizens with opportunities for personal growth as well as improvement of urban environment. A way out of this seemingly insoluble dilemma could be the policy of civic engagement, which can be implemented provided there are diverse labor market opportunities and a conducive social infrastructure. Planning the cooperation among businesses, education and municipal authorities should be part of the town development strategy, not only the result of decisions handed down by some ministries. The article also offers an example of a cultural life script: a life story of a respondent whose desire to stay in a small town was only increased by the education she obtained. © 2021. All Rights Reserved

Повседневная мобильность молодёжи в небольших Уральских городах

The article discusses practices with regard to the daily mobility of young people in the middle-sized Ural monotowns of Revda and Krasnoturyinsk. Both cities enter the orbits of the agglomerations, one of which is formed around Ekaterinburg, and the other in the north of the region. Similar in size, they are located close to (Revda) and far from (Krasnoturyinsk) the regional center. The population of Revda is growing, and that of Krasnoturyinsk, on the contrary, is decreasing. Practices with regard to the daily mobility of the population of these cities depend on the existing transport network, various deficits, and information resources. We are interested in two expressions of everyday transport mobility: internal and external. Mobility practices develop in trajectories and routes that become elements of urban spaces and fill the territory's transport infrastructure, giving it social significance and a kind of “weight,” depending on who actualizes these trajectories and how often. The focus of the study is the experience of young citizens, because it is they who, firstly, broadcast the assessments of the transport situation in the city; secondly, they actively move around the city both with parents/relatives and with friends or alone; thirdly, it is the young people, especially after graduation, that create the flow of outgoing mobility. During 2018, 60 individual semi-formalized interviews with experts and residents of the studied cities and 11 group discussions among high school students and college students (224 participants) using drawing techniques constituted the empirical basis of the study. The attractiveness for young people of such territories as Revda and Krasnoturinsk is largely based on the diversity of places and the ability to give existing ones new meanings. The results of the study show that the space of their town is considered to be mastered and well-known by young people, which increases interest in other, less familiar territories. The expansion of mobility opportunities in the format of agglomerations does not contribute to the intention of schoolchildren to return to their hometown after receiving a vocational education, which creates a problem in providing enterprises with highly qualified personnel. Thus, the development of the daily mobility of youths is not an opposition to territorial rootedness and affection, but creates new challenges for the development of a local, regional, and interregional labor market. © 2019 National Research University Higher School of Economics. All rights reserved.The work was prepared with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR); project No. 18-011-00457, 2018–2020 years

RESEARCH PHOTOMAPPING: DISCUSSING THE METHOD

Photography is often used in socio-humanitarian research, but is not always subject to consistent discussion. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the methodological reflection of research photography. Research photomapping (RPM) is presented as a possibility of method, as well as research and a cultural practice that presupposes a special convention, or pact in the sense of Ph. Lejeune. The properties of RPM are revealed in comparison with neighboring methods, among which an important distinction is made depending on who is photographing — participatory photomapping, visual diary, and more general categories — research photography and observation in the field. The definition of RPM through a set of methodological principles is proposed: photography, which is carried out by the researcher as an active participant in the field, without or together with informants, in the process of the fieldwork. The experience of using RPM is considered from the point of view of the capabilities and limitations of the method. Various formats of interaction between the researcher and the informant in the process of photographing are highlighted. It is shown how an informant can induce a sociologist to capture a particular object, how a place in a photograph becomes overgrown with a whole story or provokes the creation of a new one. There is always a connection between photographing and storytelling, which is not always reflected. In a broader sense, the discussion deals with the practice of fieldwork, the interaction of researchers with informants and with each other. The outlined problems of the RPM show the complexity and promise of both this research practice itself and its methodological reflection. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.Russian Science Foundation, RSF, (21-18-00418)article was funded by Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00418 “Small Town Museum: Multiple Cultures of Memory (Historical and Sociological Analysis)”

Migration of youth in the Sverdlovsk region

The article examines the extent and direction of internal migration in the Sverdlovsk region, analyzed the migration installation young school leavers. On the basis of sociological studies highlighted the factors that determine the attractiveness of cities.В статье анализируется масштаб и направленность внутренней миграции в Свердловской области, анализируются миграционные установки молодежи, выпускников школ. На основании данных социологических исследований выделяются факторы, определяющие привлекательность поселений различного типа

“Go-along” interview: Its structure and genres

Based on three different research projects the article analyzes the use of outdoor and indoor go-along interviewing. A detailed structure of go-along routes is considered (starting point and next point, completed and failed destinations, pass-by places, end point). Four genres of go-along interviews are singled out at the intersection of, firstly, the “city-for-others” and the “city-for-myself” and, secondly, outdoor and indoor movement. These genres are biographical go-along interview, city walking tour, museum tour, and museum anti-tour. © 2019 Russian Public Opinion Research Center, VCIOM. All rights reserved.Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: 18-011-00456The article is financed by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 18-011-00456 А “Scaling generational social memory in the cities of “old” and “new” industrialism”)

ANATOMICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF ANTERIOR VITREOUS CORTEX

Introduction. The vitreous body (VB) is limited  by anterior cortex (AC) layers, consisting of densely interconnected collagen fibers. There is no consensus regarding the structural AC organization and its relationship with the structures of the eyeball.Purpose. To study the anatomical and topographical features of the anterior cortical layers of VB.Material  and  methods.  We  developed an  original method  for contrasting the VB structures  using an ultra-fine Vitreokontrast suspension based on a water-insoluble inorganic salt of barium sulfate in the isotonic solution. The study was performed in 20 cadaveric donor eyes. the  original technology.  Dissection was carried  out  according to a proposed original technology. The scleral incision was made at a 4mm distance from the limbus along the circumference. Then we cut the sclera between the rectus muscles, then the petals of choroid and retina were formed, and also they were cut off. Then we cut the sclera between the rectus muscles, then the petals of choroid and retina were formed, and also cut them off. We stained the vitreous structures using the Vitreokontrast suspension with a sequential removal of the anterior cortex up to the posterior lens capsule.Results. After the cortex removal in the cadaveric donor eyes several membranous structures  (on an average of four) were detected with a covering the retrolental space with an ability to exfoliate, with sites of the attachment to the Wieger ligament and fibers of ciliary zonula and pars plana. After the removal of the membranous structures and their restaining a layer of vitreous fibers was contrasted on the posterior capsule of the lens in the area of Berger space projection. Conclusion. The study revealed no case of a true full anterior cortex detachment. The anterior cortex exfoliation occurred with the formation of a multilayer membranous structure, covering the posterior surface of lens and ciliary body.The presence of vitreous fibers closely associated with the posterior capsule of the lens in the projection area  of Berger space, allows to suppose a possibility of retrolental bag existence, one of walls of which is associated with the posterior lens capsule

Macro-microscopic study of posterior vitreous detachment variants in an ex vivo experiment

Purpose. The key to understanding the development of any vitreoretinal pathology is a presence of a clear conception to possible variants of changes in the anatomical and topographic relationships of the posterior cortical layers of the vitreous body and the retinal internal limiting membrane (ILM) in a formation of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD).An original method of macro-microscopic examinations of anatomical objects proposed by professor V.P. Vorobyov, which includes investigations of morphological objects whose dimensions lie in the boundary area between macroscopic parameters studied by anatomists and microstructures studied by histologists, discover a new boundary area for the study of anatom ical structures.However, it has not been practically used in ophthalmology until now. The study of a process for changes in the vitreoretinal interface during the PVD occurrence is difficult due to a complexity of simulation, a possibility of visualization, and an absence of approved protocols for macro-microscopic research.Purpose. To study variants of anatomical and topographical changes in the vitreoretinal interface during the formation of induced PVD in ex vivo experiments using the method of macro-microscopic examination.Material and methods. The study was performed in 24 eyeballs of cadaver donors. To assess changes in the vitreoretinal interface in the process of PVD induction, an original method of dissection was used, that allows to isolate layer-by-layer the cortical layers of the vitreous body and the retinal ILM, with a possibility of further evaluation of changes in the vitreoretinal interface by the macro-microscopic examination. Salt barium sulfate suspension Video-contrast was used with the purpose to contrast vitreous fibers. Macroscopic investigation was carried out using the Topcon OMS-800 operating microscope with an indication from x8 to x21 magnification, microscopic changes were evaluated by the light microscopy method with x50, x100, x200, x400 x630 magnification using the Leica DM LB2 microscope with the subsequent photo r egistration.Results. During the macro-microscopic study, three variants of possible changes in the vitreoretinal interface during the development of induced PVD were revealed, which were interpreted as the normal (true) PVD and abnormal PVD, which occurred both with the formation (the variant A) of vitreoschisis zones (exfoliation of the cortical layers of the vitreous body) and with the zones of retinal ILM exfoliation (the variant B).Conclusion. The proposed method of macro-microscopic investigation of the vitreoretinal interface allows to dissect isolated sequentially layerby- layer the cortical layers of the vitreous body and the retinal ILM with subsequent fixation on a special substrate according to the original method and the possibility to carry out a histological section and its evaluation by the light m icroscopy method. The application of the developed method allows to accurately assess changes in the vitreoretinal interface on any isolated site of the vitreoretinal surface. The presented work demonstrates possibilities for the application of the method to detect variants of changes in the vitreoretinal interface within the formation of i nduced PVD

The Discourse of Nature in Young Towns

The article is devoted to the "reading" and production of nature (in the terms of Macnaghten and Urry) in the discourse of young industrial towns arising in Russia after 1917. The empirical research is focused on four Ural settlements of Krasnoturyinsk, Lesnoy, Zarechny, and Kachkanar. Two chronologically different types of sources are used, those related to the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, which accumulated official and unofficial discourses. The main field method is the go-along interview. The analytical scheme elaborated to deal with the collected materials includes: a) semantic statements specifying the general vector of expression and perception of nature; b) the status of nature in a relationship with man, and; c) the predicative elements which reveal the understanding of nature and its relationship with non-nature. Three phases of the discourse of nature are highlighted on the basis of the analytical scheme. 'Conquest' is a semantic statement at the first stage. In the second stage, it is changed by the rhetoric of partnership, while the third stage emphasizes environmental issues. The article concludes that a fundamental duality is characteristic for the discourse of nature in young towns. On the one hand, it articulates environmental risks, and an admiration of forests and mountains since "natural" and "refined" environment are valued as a source of positive local identity, comfort, and interesting leisure opportunities. On the other hand, there is a recognition of the need for the further industrial use of nature to maintain the vitality of the town. The ecological line (argument?) is weaker because the perception of enterprise as a backbone of the basis of life persists

THE CONTINUED PRESENT: TIME CAPSULES AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE AND RESEARCH METHOD

This article considers the sociocultural practice of “time capsules” (TCs) in the context of three approaches. The theories of social time emphasize the modern nature of this practice and highlight the stages of the creation and opening of capsules, often tied to ritualized points—certain dates and events. The theory of communication stresses particulars of the messages, their senders and addressees, as well as aspects of communication breakdowns. Multiscalar analysis reveals various spatial and temporal scales used in the practice of TCs, as well as possibilities for their intersection. TCs differ with respect to the balance of future/present, positive/negative, laudatory/critical, serious/ ironic, and formal/informal; over time and depending on the type of capsule, this balance may change. In the second part of the article we present the time capsule as the our method of empirical research. During group discussions among high school and college students in eight small cities in the Ural region, we asked the participants to write a message for those who will live there 100 years later. This experiment revealed elements of isomorphism of our participants’ messages with real TCs as well as differences between them. For instance, we discovered that adolescents are mostly focused on the present. We analyzed their views of the future using schemes we adapted from Niklas Luhmann. The problems of urban life served as the basis for polarization of the written messages between “abandon” and “safeguard” as two basic scenarios for posterity. In conclusion, we discuss the heuristic potential of the TC method and approach as a whole. © Laboratorium: журнал социальных исследований. 2023.Russian Foundation for Basic Research, РФФИ: 21-011-43019The article was written with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant No. 21-011-43019 “Dreams and Memory: Narrative Landscapes of Small Towns in the Urals (1960–1980).” It relies on the materials of the current and previous studies conducted in the cities and towns of the Urals region

The Discourse of Nature in Young Towns

The article is devoted to the "reading" and production of nature (in the terms of Macnaghten and Urry) in the discourse of young industrial towns arising in Russia after 1917. The empirical research is focused on four Ural settlements of Krasnoturyinsk, Lesnoy, Zarechny, and Kachkanar. Two chronologically different types of sources are used, those related to the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, which accumulated official and unofficial discourses. The main field method is the go-along interview. The analytical scheme elaborated to deal with the collected materials includes: a) semantic statements specifying the general vector of expression and perception of nature; b) the status of nature in a relationship with man, and; c) the predicative elements which reveal the understanding of nature and its relationship with non-nature. Three phases of the discourse of nature are highlighted on the basis of the analytical scheme. 'Conquest' is a semantic statement at the first stage. In the second stage, it is changed by the rhetoric of partnership, while the third stage emphasizes environmental issues. The article concludes that a fundamental duality is characteristic for the discourse of nature in young towns. On the one hand, it articulates environmental risks, and an admiration of forests and mountains since "natural" and "refined" environment are valued as a source of positive local identity, comfort, and interesting leisure opportunities. On the other hand, there is a recognition of the need for the further industrial use of nature to maintain the vitality of the town. The ecological line (argument?) is weaker because the perception of enterprise as a backbone of the basis of life persists